Red Arrow Park

Yesterday we were looking for something fun to do so I texted some friends to make possible plans.  My friend Maria suggested ice skating at Red Arrow Park.  Tad had suggested the museum but I thought I'd try to convince him otherwise.  All three of my family members were still in their jammies so I thought it might be hard to convince any of them to leave.  Tad was sitting on the couch watching Coen try to teach Lucy how to play chess.  I sat next to him and made the face I make when I want something. I imagine this face to be really adorable but it's probably more like obnoxiously weird.  Anyway, Tad said he'd be willing to do such a thing and so I asked the children.

"Who wants to go ice skating?" I said.

"ME!!!" Coen yelled. 

"Me!" Lucy said.

And so in a while, we'd had lunch and gotten our warm clothing on (after a particularly tearful battle between Lucy and I about snow pants and the wearing thereof) and headed out. 

Coen was thrilled to be able to skate with a friend, though he's only skated before at the Petit Center so all the way there he said, "So...an OUTDOOR ice skating rink..I don't really like the sound of it." I tried to explain that OUTDOORS is where ice is actually a naturally ocurring thing but he wasn't convinced until we got there and he saw his friend Mason.  After I got my skates on and Lucy's too, Tad asked me to help Coen tie his. I knelt down and grabbed the laces.  Felt the toes.  "Honey, do these fit you?" I asked, pushing at the gap between the toe and the skate.  "Yeah, they fit." said a voice I did not recognize. I looked up. I was tying the skates of a boy I didn't know at all!"  "Oh my goodness!" I said. "You aren't my child!"  "No." said the boy matter-of-factly.  He seemed not to mind at all that a perfect stranger was  pushing on his feet and accusing him of having non-fitting skates.

So, then we skated and had some good stuff at Starbucks. While that was happening three hipster teenagers were dancing around and climbing on the cement walls surrounding the rink.  It struck Maria and me that they appeared to be 50% interested in having an audience and 50% self-conscious. It was very amusing to behold that kind of look on their faces. 

Lucy made use of a "child's helper" which was a bucket turned over upside down, mean to serve as a skating crutch.  Instead she sat upon it and demanded to be pushed around the rink until Tad pointed out that it was sort of negating the purpose of ice skating so we returned it and our little girl did a great job skating for her first time.

At any rate, we had a great time and I would definitely go there again. And perhaps not tie the shoes of strangers next time.